Spain Road Trip: Days 1-2 (Figueres, Cadaques)

     We left for Spain on Saturday morning:

     Three hours later, we stopped in Perpignan to have lunch with Averil's former French professor, Ghislaine Sagot:

  
     After lunch, it was a mere 45 minutes until we crossed the border into . . . . Espana!

     Our first stop was a town called Figueres.  We had tapas that night in a place that happened to be broadcasting the Barcelona-Madrid soccer match (which Averil had been dying to see).  Here are the tapas:

Averil says this is the most intense soccer match she has seen in a long time.  Forget Galaxy vs. Sounders, and look for a showing of this match.  The Real Madrid (Cristiano Ronaldo)/ Barca (Messi) rivalry is renowned.  We won't spoil it for you by saying who won, but do tune in for second half.

     Figueres is where Salvador Dali was born, and there is a big museum there.  He designed it and made sure his pictures, drawings, sculptures, and jewelry were displayed there, along with copious pictures of him and his flamboyant mustache.  Also, he is buried there in the middle of the museum not too far from an old Cadillac with creepy plastic people and artificial plants and baby dolls inside.  The whole museum was, like, totally surreal.  Here are some photos:

Outside Museum -- Dali was Big on Eggs and Loaves of Bread, which are the dots covering the museum

Flamboyant Mustache!

Is This a Man with a Bushy Mustache . . . or A Woman Standing Near a Curtain?

    
     After the Dali Museum, we drove to the town of Cadaques which is on the coast.  From a distance it's a nice looking town.  Up close, we opine that Cadaques is nothing to write home about . . . but it's very near the place where Dali and his muse had their house.  And now his house is a museum and you can go inside and see how he liked to decorate it all strange-like.  Better make a reservation though.  (They only let people in at appointed times, and we made our reservation a month ago). 

     Here are some pictures of Dali's house:

Exterior of House

Backyard (query: how long before Ford is as tall as Averil?)

 

Dali's Bedroom

Room Where He Painted His Pictures

Entry Way (Ivy, I thought we told you to stay in the hotel?!)

Dali loved Gala, his lady muse.  When she died, he quit their house in Cadaques never to return.  On his death, he left it to Spain.

And here are some pictures in Cadaques:

     We've od-ed Dali.  Tomorrow it's on to Barcelona!